Adrien Broner vs. Ashley Theophane is set for April 1 at DC Armory

Feb

Photo: Naoki Fukuda

Adrien Broner never quite leaves the spotlight between fights. So now that he has a bout scheduled, the focus is about to intensify. Broner will defend his WBA junior welterweight title for the first time against Ashley Theophane on April 1 at the DC Armory in Washington, DC as part of a Premier Boxing Champions on Spike (9 p.m. ET) card, it was officially announced on Wednesday.

The 26-year-old Broner (31-2, 23 knockouts) frequently trains at the Headbangers Boxing Gym in Washington, DC and thinks he will have a home-court advantage over Theophane, who trains in Las Vegas. Broner won his strap with a 12^th round TKO of Khabib Allakhverdiev on Oct. 3 in his hometown of Cincinnati.

“Ashley Theophane is a world-class fighter and this is going to be a tough fight for me,” Broner said in a press release. “I’m very excited to fight in Washington, DC. My following is huge in DC; it’s my second home and I think we’re going to give the fans what they’re looking for. I want to fight the best in the 140-pound weight division and Ashley Theophane is one of the best.”

One of the subplots of this fight is that Theophane (39-6-1, 11 KOs) is promoted by Mayweather Promotions, whose namesake, Floyd Mayweather Jr. is a mentor of sorts to Broner. Theophane has won six straight, though he has struggled whenever he’s stepped up in class, losing to Pablo Cesar Cano and Danny Garcia, among others.

“I’m excited to face Adrien Broner for a super lightweight world championship,” Theophane said in the release. “It’s been a long, hard road to get here. Thanks to Floyd Mayweather and everyone at Mayweather Promotions for their support over the last two-and-a-half years, I get to have my career-defining fight against a four-division world champion. It gets no bigger than that. I will be leaving the ring on April 1 as the new world champion.”